It takes a pretty extreme dude to truly appreciate the sound of a manipulated trombone or recordings of a butterfly’s wings fluttering, but said extreme dude should be thrilled to hear the Expo Festival is ready for another round, this year’s edition to be held in Plymouth, England, on June 22-24, 2007.

Now in its tenth year, the fest compiles and showcases any type of sound art that hasn’t been rehashed by its sonic predecessors. Past installments and performers include Berlin-based art collective Staalplaat Soundsystem, creating “the ultrasound of therapy,” Dreams of Tall Buildings, who performed the first graphic score in 40 years, and the all-female electro-experimentalists Spunk. While most music enthusiasts may not have a clue as to who the hell these weirdos are, it suffices to say Expo is the Burning Man of sound art.

For the Plymouth edition, the fest has already confirmed 60 robotic birds (WTF?), a sonic ferry tour with laptop duo The Splice Girls, a voice-manipulating hot dog cart, and a pirate mini-opera. These are just the highlights. There are also late night performances by noise-punks Semiconductor, Grewtronic, and Monstrous Little Women, a six-turntable freakout, and a sonic jigsaw puzzle to get the art-folks nice and riled up.

For extensive details go to Sonic Arts Network.